


Stranger Things Stories - Am-ooze-ment Park

by WAluigipants



Series: Stranger Things Stories [1]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Carnival, Circus, Gen, Mild Language, Minor Original Character(s), Original Character(s), Originally Posted Elsewhere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:47:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25958515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WAluigipants/pseuds/WAluigipants
Summary: Dustin, Will, and Eleven come across an amusement park attraction that seems to have some connection to the Upside Down… But what does it bring them?
Series: Stranger Things Stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1884115
Kudos: 1





	1. Corn Dogs

“Alright. Henderson, you’re in charge, alright?” Steve Harrington said as he dropped the kids off at the Roane County Fair before going off to park the car.  
“Got it, Steve. You can count on me.” Dustin gave a thumbs up as he adjusted his backpack containing all of the things they needed for their day at the fair.  
“How did you convince my mom to let me go with you guys? You know how she is about me being alone after all of those… times.” Will looked to Dustin with some look of curiosity on his face.  
“I rolled a twenty on charisma.”  
“No, seriously.”  
“I told her that you needed a break from all the stuff that happened last year and the year before. A treat from everyone.”  
“You’re kidding.”  
“We’re not. Hopper chipped in too. Think of it as a graduation present… but we haven’t exactly graduated yet from middle school. Not until like a couple of weeks, anyway.”  
“I have to repay you guys.”  
“No, Will. Don’t. This is all for you.”  
“Fine. Eleven? What do you think of all of this?”  
“I’ve never been to a fair before. I saw this place on TV with Hopper once. What’s it like?” Eleven asked.  
“You’ll find out soon enough.” Dustin smiled. “There’s great food, fun rides, attractions, games… Everything from A-to-Z.”  
“I know that. But what’s it like?”  
“There’s a reason Hopper let you go with us, you know, as long as you promised not to use your powers. Gotta explore the world.”  
“Right. I thought Mike was coming?” Eleven asked.  
“Mike is out of town for a family reunion somewhere else.”  
“What about Lucas and Max? They couldn’t come?” Will asked.  
“Lucas and Max? They procrastinated on their book report and it’s due tomorrow.”  
“So it’s just us three then?” Eleven asked.  
“Apparently.”  
“Us and Jonathan’s camera, anyway.” Will pulled out a camera from his pocket. “Jonathan told me to take pictures of us having fun so we have stuff for Mom’s albums.”  
“Really? Neat.”  
“The only problem is that he gave me it right before I left. I don’t know how to take good pictures with it.”  
“Trial and error, then.”  
The trio headed towards the entrance and handed their tickets to the stand.  
“Where are your parents?” The admissions man spoke.  
“Shit. Forgot about this part.” Dustin looked around. “I… uhh…”  
“You’re good,” Steve Harrington spoke, putting his hand on Dustin’s shoulder. “They’re with me. They know what they’re doing and they know to stay in a group. Isn’t that right?”  
“Right.” The trio spoke.  
“Alright then. Sir? Here’s my ticket.” The man took Steve’s ticket, and they all headed inside the fair. “I’m gonna take off. You three. Stay together or I won’t hear the end of it from Mrs. Henderson or your mom, Byers.” Steve lowered his sunglasses before walking off towards a concessions stand to flirt with a girl.

“Alright. Voting time. Who votes that we get concessions first, like funnel cakes and corn dogs?” Dustin raised his hand. El nervously raised her hand. “Attractions first? Like that tent over there?” One hand from Will. “And the rollercoasters?” No one raised their hand. “The order is set. It’s concessions, attractions and games, and then rollercoasters and rides. Alright, company march to the concessions stands to the west. We don’t want to ruin Steve’s date.”  
“Do they serve Eggos at one of the stands?” Eleven asked.  
“No. But I’m sure that you’ll like funnel cakes, El.”  
“Funnel… cake?”   
“It’s fried dough with powdered sugar, whipped cream, and sometimes other toppings like chocolate syrup.”  
“Gross.”  
“Don’t deny it till you’ve tried it.” Will smiled. “I’m going for the fried pickles.”  
“Gross. But Harrington said we need to stick together. You’re staying in the funnel cake line with us, Will.”  
“Sweet before savory? Don’t you think we should get a corn dog or hot dog first?” Will crossed his arms.  
“You’re the one who thought about getting fried pickles first, Byers.”  
“Eleven? What do you think we should eat first?” Will spoke as he looked at the available choices.

Eleven looked through the concession stands… and looked at the corn dogs… cotton candy… funnel cakes, fried pickles, caramel apples, popcorn, pretzels, and turkey legs… until the image of french fries came into her mind.  
“French fries… and a corn dog.” Eleven pointed to one of the stands.  
“Good idea.” Will began to make his way towards the line with the rest of the group.  
“She took her time thinking about it, though. Eleven, do you have some sort of thing for french fries like… Eggos?”  
“No.”  
“Then why’d you pick them?”  
“They taste okay, even if they are a little greasy.”  
“Is there like a personal reason?” Dustin asked. “You can tell us. We’re on your side. You’re fine with us.”  
“Benny Hammond.”  
“What?”  
“That’s the reason. Can we eat?”


	2. Freak Show

“Eleven, that’s a lot of ketchup.” Dustin laughed, looking at her tray of food. “All of that for the corn dog or the fries?”  
“Both.”  
Will snapped a photo. The trio had purchased their meals, with Will eating a good portion of fried pickles alongside his fries and corn dog.  
“Aren’t pickles sour?” Dustin asked.  
“That’s kind of the reason why I enjoy them, Dustin. That and there’s a different type of crunch when it’s fried. Why didn’t you go for a turkey leg?”  
“You’re right. I did miss out on that cha - hey, since when did you care so much about food?”  
“It’s what we’re doing first, right? Can’t walk around on an empty stomach.”  
“You have a point. Eleven can’t use her powers either on an empty stomach too…”  
“Hopper says I can’t use my powers unless we’re in danger.” Eleven stated as a matter-of-factly.  
“I think we’re safe, Dustin. She doesn’t need to use her powers.”  
“But what if something from the Upside Down shows up again? It doesn’t hurt to be ready for anything.”  
“In a carnival? Five miles from Hawkins? Last time I checked, the only place where we could see the Upside Down was in Hawkins.”  
“Fair enough.”  
Footsteps.  
“You freaks talking about those nerd things?” A familiar voice. They hadn’t heard this one in a while…  
“Troy?” Will raised an eyebrow.  
“The freak who broke my arm… The Queer Who Came Back to Life… and Toothless.”  
“I have teeth now, you know.”  
“Who’s to say those aren’t dentures, Toothless?”  
“Shut up.”  
“It’s been more than a year. I’m not gonna give you guys trouble. But I’m gonna tell you this: watch your back.”  
“Why?”  
“That tent over there? They’re looking for more freaks to add to the freak show, and they’re desperate.”  
“Mouth breather.” Eleven spoke.  
“Not a girl of many words, it seems.”  
“She doesn’t take to your kind, I’m afraid,” Dustin spoke with an arrogant, mocking posh voice.  
Troy rolled his eyes and walked away.  
“Do you think he’s serious?” Will spoke.  
“About the tent? No one ever goes by there.”  
“Eleven?” Will asked.  
“I… don’t know.” Eleven replied.  
“Can you sense anything about it?”  
“Hopper said not to use my powers.”  
“Just tell us if you can feel anything. Close your eyes.”  
Eleven closed her eyes and concentrated, but the sound of the crowds and rides were too much. She couldn’t enter that mindstate. She shook her head, and stood up, tossing away her empty tray and walking towards a carnival game. She needed to get her mind focused through other means. Maybe that way, she could see what was up with the tent? What did Troy mean?  
“Eleven? Where are you going?” Dustin spoke.  
“Can we play some carnival games? I can’t concentrate.”  
Will sat himself down at one of the carnival game stations with one of the squirt guns, with Dustin doing the same not long afterward. Eleven hesitated, noting that the squirt guns resembled the guns the bad men had… but remembered that this was a game. No one would get hurt.  
“It’s a dollar per game for each customer.” The man managing the game groaned, looking towards the trio. “You have a dollar?”  
Dustin pulled out three dollars, handing it to the man, who nodded.   
“Squirt the moving targets. Smaller targets are more points. Get 1000 points and win a toy. 900 earns a goldfish. Get 500 points and win a finger puppet.”  
The man fired up the game… and the trio started immediately. Will was surprisingly an expert marksman with the squirt gun… but Eleven began to catch up with Will as Dustin struggled to have his squirt gun cooperate; he had to pull the trigger harder than the others.

Minutes passed. Will was getting close to a solid 956… with Dustin getting barely over 500 with 513. Eleven was making the shots each time, clearly focused… and she began to close her eyes, her finger still pressing in the trigger at random intervals. She found herself in the dark, like the time with Terry… and the time in the sensory deprivation tanks… and with the radio and television white noise. In the distance was the tent. She began to walk towards it… and there was… Mike?  
She reached out for him, only for him to melt into a pile of clear, faintly green ooze. The tent looked as if it was leaking… and there were small black tendrils or vines, the very same ones that she saw in the Upside Down. She drew closer to the tent, with Mike appearing again, peering within the tent. Just as she was about to get close… a bell rang, bringing her back to reality.

“That’s the timer. Cap kid gets a finger puppet, bowl head gets a goldfish, and the sleepy girl gets one of those big plush dolls that are hangin’ down from the ceiling.”  
“Eleven, you won!”  
“I… won?”  
“I got a finger puppet. Are you shitting me? If my squirt gun wasn’t crap, I would have gotten a goldfish…”  
“Dustin, you can have my goldfish.”  
“You sure?”  
“Don’t have room for a pet at home.”  
“Will, it’s a goldfish. All you have to do is feed it and clean its tank.”  
“B-but you wanted a goldfish, didn’t you?”  
“Fine. I’ll keep him.”  
The group claimed their prizes; and Will snapped a photo. Eleven looked at the large penguin plush she received as her prize… and kept thinking about what she saw by the tent.  
“There’s something in the tent.”  
“Were there people like Troy described?”  
“No. I saw… Mike… and something from the Upside Down.” Eleven stuttered.  
Will shuddered in response.  
“Oh no. Not this again.” Dustin facepalmed. “As cool as this shit is, how many times do we have to deal with it?”  
“You don’t think we should check it out, Dustin?”  
“We need to, right? I think the people here in the fair might be in danger.”  
“I was afraid you’d say that.” Will heaved a sigh and cracked his knuckles. “Let’s get over there and find out what’s going on.”


	3. Part of the Act

Will took a deep breath and headed inside the tent, his friends following behind. He readied the camera, in hopes of catching something interesting or suspicious… but only found some performers practicing their act. The flash from the camera caught the showman by surprise.  
“Ah! I’m afraid our show isn’t ready yet, kids. Come back later… unless you’re willing to join in on the action.” The showman laughed heartily, looking at the trio with eerie, golden eyes.  
“What kind of act?” Dustin inquired, unsure if this had anything to with the Upside Down at all like Eleven has suggested. Did they come over here for nothing? “Are we paid?”  
“I was thinking more of volunteers… or your own performances. What are all of you capable of?” The man seemed to be glaring directly at Eleven. “I can sense great things from you, miss.” Eleven backed away, nervous.  
“I can do something with my arms… it’s pretty cool, I guess. My friend says I’m like Mr. Fantastic…” Dustin cautiously put his arms forward and a cracking noise was heard. The man did not flinch. Something was suspicious about him, definitely.  
“I have the biggest imagination out of the three here, I guess. I have these weird visions sometimes too. Visions of another place… but they’ve stopped happening ever since that time last year.”  
“A human marvel… and a fortune teller. And now, you, miss?”  
“I’m… normal.”  
“Not possible. I know something’s in you. You have power, and you and your friends cannot hide it.” The man began to reach towards Eleven. She pushed his hand aside with her powers, her face looking rather afraid and… her lose bleeding.  
At this, Will realized the situation, and snatched Dustin and Eleven’s hands, attempting to make a run for it.  
“I know something’s in you. You just displayed it. You have power that I need.” The man began to reach towards Eleven once more… but suddenly snapping his fingers. The floor began to secret an odd ooze, the same one that Eleven saw before… and vines began to ensnare the trio’s feet to the ground. Dustin attempted to pull himself free, but to no avail. The air grew colder… colder and colder, and the man’s eyes began to glow, with a shadowy aura emanating from him.  
“Is the Mind Flayer back?” Dustin looked to Will. “I thought we killed it!”  
“I think this is something different.” Will shook his head. “His arm. It’s turning into some sort of goo.”  
The man’s arm began to dissolve and melt, falling and merging with the ground… and a massive shadowy hand engulfed the group, followed by a shriek from the trio in unison.


	4. The Escape Act

Will found himself in a cage. He wasn’t dead, clearly… but what kind of cage was this? It was an animal cage, to be more precise. Given that they had gone into the Upside Down it seemed, he closed his eyes and listened, hoping for the familiar Demogorgon screech… but nothing was to be heard but the eerie ambience and his own breath and heartbeat.  
“Dustin!? El?!!” No response. Only silence.  
He tried the bars, and charging at them. It was locked. Thoughts rushed through his mind. What did he have with him? How could he get out of there? Will pulled out Jonathan’s camera, and took a photo of himself smiling to cheer himself up. The photo took a moment to develop… and it was then they he noticed that the background in the photo was with no walls or bars… just the inside of the tent, him sitting down among an audience... He couldn’t be imagining things, could he? He was in the Upside Down, in a cage, with nothing else. But what if… this was a hint?  
That was it. Imagination. Will thought to himself. The Upside Down was real, but this cage? It wasn’t. Will wasn’t an animal. He was the boy who came back to life, and dealt with the Mind Flayer. He couldn’t let this phase him. He closed his eyes, and there he was again, this time somewhere else.  
Not back in the real world, but he found himself outside a cage. Not his own, but someone else’s. Eleven was inside, shrieking and attempting to break herself out, but to no avail. She seemed to be having a nightmare.

Eleven saw Dr. Brenner outside her cage with Mike, who looked at Eleven with an amused look.  
“Papa?” Eleven shrieked.  
“It’s pathetic to see you struggle like this. Come on. You have the power. Get out of there and see your friend.”  
“Shut up, Papa!”  
“You’re absolutely pathetic. How can I even call you my friend, let alone someone I care about? We were never supposed to meet.”  
“You’re not Mike!”  
“As as real as Mike gets. You? Your existence is a joke. Get out of this-”  
An interruption. Another voice began to cry out from the dream, someone yelling…  
“Wake up!”  
“A friend calling out to you? Who’s to say they even truly care about you?”  
“Will?”  
Will looked to Eleven, who was sobbing and writhing in what seemed to be a nightmare. She seemed to be trying to ask him something.  
“Why do… do you want to help… me? I.. opened the gate.”  
“I owe everyone a lot. Especially you. Mike and Mom told me all about you, what you did....”  
“Papa?”  
“Are you having a nightmare about your dad?”  
“Yes.”  
“Both of our dads must have been huge butts, then.” Will laughed.  
“Bad… papa?” Eleven’s nightmare began to lessen in severity as Will began to speak with her.  
“Yeah. My dad made me do things just to make me… normal. Both of us aren’t normal, though. It’s pretty scary but… both of us are involved with the Upside Down. We were both face to face with the Demogorgon. We have a lot in common.”  
“We have the same friends… and a Mama who went out of their way to help us.”  
“That’s the ticket. Can you hear me loud and clear?”  
The voices in the nightmare began to fade, and the figures of Mike and Brenner melted into a pile of goo. Will stood above the pile, smiling and holding a box of Eggos. A nightmare was becoming a pleasant dream… and she began to smile.  
“I can see you loud and clear too.”  
“Open your eyes, then. The nightmare’s over. Get yourself out of that cage. We need to find Dustin.”  
Eleven opened her eyes and opened the cage easily, jumping down to give Will a hug.  
“You’re a good friend, Will.”  
“I’m surprised we never got to know each other better. Come on, El! We don’t know how Dustin’s faring against that monster man.”


	5. Human Marvels

Dustin looked around. He was in some sort of badly-lit caravan from what he could tell. But that man… he had to be careful. Dustin bit his lips, and carefully raised his fists in a defensive position, walking slowly through the caravan. The lighting was awful; Dustin couldn’t exactly see what was ahead. But he saw someone ahead. Whether it was that weird ooze-man from before or someone else, he didn’t know. But he knew that they might be a threat. He pulled out a flashlight.  
“Show yourself, you son of a bitch! I’m not afraid of some silly putty!”  
“You kiss your mother with that mouth, kid?”  
Dustin took a step back, shining the flashlight. It wasn’t the man from before. It was someone different. Someone… very tall. He had to crane his neck to look up at who he was looking at. It was a teenager, about the same age as Steve, just… much much taller, by at least a foot or more. He wore a fancy suit and cap, looking like a gentleman...  
“Who are you?”  
“I was going to ask you the same thing, kid. Cast members only… and in this particular caravan?”  
“Human marvels only. And I’m one of them, see?” Dustin pulled his arms forward and cracked it. The towering figure flinched slightly.  
“Ouch.” He replied. “But you are well aware of what the term ‘human marvel’ means, right? We’re circus freaks.”  
“Circus freaks? There’s more to us than that. Why’d you choose to join the circus anyway?”  
“I wandered inside the tent one day and met the man you were talking about. He said he’d help me make a living after I dropped out of high school for being bullied on account of…”  
“Your height? Something similar happened to me, but I never dropped out.”  
“What? Why?”  
“I embraced what made me different. I found friends. You hear my voice? It’s got a little lisp. My teeth didn’t grow in for a very long time… and… I was bullied for that. I’ve got cleidocranial dysplasia.”  
“Now that’s a mouthful… So you were bullied too… but you found friends?”  
“Everyone’s got to have a friend sooner or later, no matter what they are and what they do.” Dustin put his hands on his hips, looking around. “Any other circus freaks? I’m thinking that we should start some sort of gang to beat down that son-of-a-bitch.”  
“You’re right, but I’m not gonna introduce the others to you if you don’t clean your mouth.”  
“To beat down that silly putty jerk.”  
“That’s more like it. Name’s Thomas Denisovich. Circus giant, seven feet four, 12th grade high school dropout.”  
“Dustin Henderson. Five foot four. Cleidocranial dysplasia, not severely affected, future computer camp student. Going into my first year of high school.”  
“So… Henderson… You plan on rounding up a crew of circus freaks to defeat the ringmaster? You don’t know what he’s capable of. He’s a monster, threatening to put us into a hellscape if we don’t perform...”  
“I’ve dealt with stranger things than this in the past. Don’t worry, Tom. Where are the others?”  
“Asleep. Somehow you swearing at the top of their lungs didn’t wake them up… I’ll get them up for you.”  
Thomas walked around and gently shook the other members of the crew inside the caravan. The first to get up was a bearded woman, who looked at Dustin with keen interest…  
“That’s Hairy Hannah…” Thomas remarked.  
The second was a particularly small woman, about a foot shorter than Dustin.  
“Dana the Dwarf…” Thomas added.  
The third was a circus strongman… er… strong-boy in a leotard, who looked to be about the same age as Dustin.  
“Little Hercules, we call this guy. His real name’s Xavier, but the ringmaster couldn’t find an X-name to go with what he had.” Thomas stood back, letting Dustin walk over and shake Xavier’s hand.  
“Nice to meet you, Xavier.” Dustin said as he shook Xavier’s hand.  
“You’ve got no collarbones, huh?”  
“Part of the condition.”  
“So… we’re all gonna lay a beat down on the ringmaster, right? I’ve been wanting to do that, but I don’t think we had the courage to do it.”  
“No better time than now, Xavier. I’ve also got to find my friends. We came here together as a group, but when that man attacked, we got separated.”  
“Can they handle themselves?” Tom asked.  
“I think so. One of them was trapped in another dimension for a week, dealt with possession, and the other I think was traumatized as some sort of test subject at a lab.”  
“Your friends have gone through a lot, clearly.”  
“You believe what I’m saying?”  
“If a ringmaster can be made out of silly putty and open portals to another dimension at any moment, anything can be real, right?”  
“Fair point, Tom. So who’s leader of the group?”  
“You, it seems. You’ve got a plan?”  
“Hairy Hannah will go up to the ringmaster and talk to him as a distraction. Dana will sneak around the back and tell us when the coast is clear. Xavier, Tom, and I will try to pin down the ringmaster while he’s distracted, and put him in his place.”  
“If we come across your friends… how can they help?”  
“They’re resourceful. I think they can figure it out their own. You guys ready to execute my plan?”  
“I have a few questions. What if he opens a portal?”  
“We use it against him to stall time. Shove him in. I’ll work with my friends to find out his weakness. If worst comes to worst, we charge at him like football players.”  
“Now, how about getting out this caravan? Any plans?” Tom asked.  
“Xavier? Ever realize that you’ve got brute strength? You gotta put that to good use, buddy.”  
Xavier facepalmed upon realizing that he could have gotten out at any time by forcing the door open.  
“Why didn’t I think of that?” Xavier laughed… and walked over to the door, pushing against it. After a few moments, the door was forced open and Xavier tumbled out onto the floor.  
“You alright?” Dustin asked.  
“I’m fine. Let’s get out of here and face off against that guy!” Xavier got himself up, and ran off toward the tent.


	6. Showtime

“Are you ready, Will?” Eleven asked.  
“Readier than ever.” Will clenched his left fist, and opened the tent doors. Eleven stood back. Right at the tent stood Mike, who had a rather smug looking expression on his face.  
“I’d knew you’d come and join us sooner or later.” Mike spoke, with a sophisticated tone to his voice.  
“You’re not Mike.” Eleven glared at him.  
“How would you know? You hardly know me. Separated for three hundred and fifty three days… and you never bothered to talk to me. You never even bothered to try to risk it and try to contact me completely because of some stupid police officer who, what, provided you home and housing when you could have done it yourself? You proved yourself when Lucas, Dustin, and I split up over you. Our friendship is an illusion.”  
“El! It’s an illusion! Don’t fall for it!”  
“Who’s to say everything you see about the Upside-Down isn’t an illusion too, Will? Maybe you’ve let your imagination run too wild? Maybe the demogorgon wasn’t real?”  
“How… how do you know all of this about us? We never told you anything!” Will took a step back, with skepticism and fear in eyes. Eleven took notice of this… and shook her head. She lowered her head, and began to glare at Mike.  
“You’re not Mike! The real illusion here is you!” Eleven screamed, forcing a burst of psychokinetic energy at Mike. Mike was thrown against an audience stand all the way across the tent, and collapsed to the ground. His body began to liquidize… and morph into the figure that was the ringmaster they knew before.  
“Very astute observations, the two of you. You saw through those illusions like it was nothing but an imitation, a lie. But I refuse to let you two last any longer than unless you choose to join our show. Both of you hold multiple essences that I can thrive off of.”  
“The hell does that mean?” A voice familiar to Will and Eleven cried out. It was Dustin, hanging from a tightrope and overhearing the conversation.  
“Dustin?”  
“Good god, I did not think this plan through. My arms are getting sore.”  
“Hey! This isn’t the act I assigned to you! I assigned you to ‘human marvels’, not the tightrope act!”  
“Maybe I don’t want to be a human marvel if the goddamn ringmaster isn’t human?” Dustin replied.  
“Insolent children.” The Ringmaster raised his hand, and a shadowy hand rose up from the ground, stretching high into the air and attempting to reach for Dustin, while Dana the Dwarf ran by his legs and attempted to knock him off balance. She succeeded, and the hand dissipated not long after it caused Dustin to lose his grip slightly.  
“Shit shit shit shit shit shit… TOM! GET OVER HERE! I’M GONNA FALL!”  
“El? Can you catch him?” Will looked to Eleven, scared out of his mind.  
“I can help. Don’t we need to focus on the ringmaster before he does anything?”  
“Dustin’s in danger!”  
“I’m FINE!” Dustin yelled. “Focus on the gooey guy! El! Try to pull off the thing you did on the demogorgon, but make things a little easier for Tom, please?!”  
“Alright… but do you mean disintegrate him?”  
“Yeah. Will? Make sure nothing messes up! If he tries to open a portal, distract him! Do something big!” Dustin took a deep breath, and let go of the tightrope. His descent was fast and looked fatal, initially, but with Eleven’s powers, it slowed down enough for Thomas to run forward and catch Dustin on his shoulders. “Onwards! We’re gonna show that guy what-for!” Dustin pointed.  
Dustin and the rest of the circus crew charged toward the Ringmaster, who sank into a puddle and evaded their attack, appearing back in humanoid form. Eleven concentrated her energy, but the Ringmaster was resisting against the electromagnetic energy. He wasn’t going to let down his guard, even if he was outnumbered. The Ringmaster readied its other hand to open a portal.  
Will suddenly jumped out of nowhere and attempted to kick the Ringmaster, knocking them off guard. The Ringmaster succumbed to Eleven’s powers and was split apart as if it were an explosive gelatin; its remains lie all about the floor.  
“We did it!” Dustin looked to all of his friends, but the Ringmaster wasn’t finished. Its remains sank into the ground, and the ground began to shake… and the tent was lifted straight off of the ground through the sheer remaining power of the Ringmaster. The circus crew looked up in horror as the tent flew up into the air and they remained on the ground. It was escaping… and they were trapped in a hellscape. The sky around them was that of the other dimension. The Upside Down. From the ground, the remains of the ringmaster formed into a floating ball of slime, which constantly changed shape from a ring, to a sphere, and to a hand, and it flew away in the direction of the tent.  
“We can’t let it get away. We’re gonna be trapped here; the tent was the only way out.” Will realized.   
“How the heck do you think we can catch up to it?” Dustin crossed his arms.  
“The rollercoaster.” Eleven spoke up.  
“You’re not serious, are you?” Tom said, looking at the trio.  
“Do we have any other options?”  
“No. Let’s go already!”  
The kids made their way towards where the line for the rollercoaster would be, and hopped in a car. Luckily, in the Upside Down… it remained functional. It sprung to life when Dustin pulled the lever… and a voice called to them from the back in another car.  
“You assholes. I thought I told the three of you to ‘stay out of trouble?’”  
Dustin looked behind him as the car began to move up the hill.  
“Steve?”  
“Who else would it be?”  
“Careful. It might be the Ringmaster!” Will stuttered.  
“Eleven? How about a test?” Dustin looked to El, and she understood, beginning to stretch Steve’s cheekbones with her mind. He was real. They weren’t elastic, like the Ringmaster.  
“The hell?” Steve said as he rubbed his cheeks.  
“Sorry. No other way.”  
“Chasing after that tent and jello monster, huh? Henderson? Take my bat. Byers? Make sure he doesn’t hit himself with it.”  
“How’d you even get here?”  
“I snuck inside not a while ago. Get going already!”  
As the cart finished the climb up the hill, it went downhill in a burst of speed, going across a bumpy track at a breakneck pace. The Ringmaster wasn’t that far ahead any more.  
“Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod.” Dustin screamed as they went downhill and along the track. He held on hand on the safety belt and another on the bat.  
“Eleven? Reel in the Ringmaster! Use your powers!” Will screeched as they went along.  
“He knows how to resist it! We need to catch him off guard!”  
“Then don’t use your powers! Steve? Do something!”  
“Dustin? I packed your bag with Farrah Fawcett spray. When we get in close, spray him with it.”  
“What?”  
“Do we have any other options?”  
“Fine!”  
“Eleven! Speed up the car!” Dustin screamed. Eleven focused her powers on the kart, and it went even faster. In a matter of moments, it was right behind the Ringmaster. Dustin rummaged through his bag and pulled out some Farrah Fawcett spray… and clicked the top. The spray went straight on the Ringmaster, causing a chemical reaction. It solidified and crashed onto the track, right in front of the car. It was knocked into the air by the force of the car once more, and Dustin readied the spiked bat. Will helped Dustin remained steady as they went along the track… and they shattered the Ringmaster into various crystallized black shards. Black smoke rose up from the impact into the sky, to where the Mind Flayer was once before… (had the Mind Flayer vanished…?) The car continued at its brisk pace… and entered a loop. The moment the car was upside-down in the loop, their surroundings returned to normal; they were on the actual rollercoaster itself. Back in the real world.


	7. Epilogue

The group revisited the tent… or at least, what remained of it. The circus gang had finally been freed from their prison in the Upside Down.

“Well, now what? You guys are free to do whatever you want now. No Ringmaster to hold you under control anymore.” Dustin said, crossing his arms. Tom looked around awkwardly with the rest of the “human marvels.”  
“We haven’t done much but perform. But if it were me? I’d want to finish up high school before going back to performing.”  
“You’ve finally got the confidence to do it?”  
“Yeah, thanks to you, Dustin.”  
Steve looked to Dustin and Tom, and nodded. The rest of the group, Hannah, Dana, and Xavier looked on with interest.  
“Same goes to the rest of you. You guys deserve to make a name for yourselves that’s more than just being a sideshow act.”  
“Thank you, you guys.” Xavier looked to Dustin, Will, El, and Steve. “But you guys gotta enjoy the fair while you can. In the summer, gets even more and more crowded than it is now. You four better enjoy yourselves or I’ll punch you across the room.”  
Steve and Will flinched.  
“Dude, I’m kidding. Sure I could do that, but with great power comes great responsibility, as they say.”  
“You read comic books?” Dustin asked.  
“Yeah. I’m your age, aren’t I? Of course I read comic books. I’ll see you guys soon!” Xavier ran back on over to the fairgrounds.  
“It was absolutely an adventure to help you guys out.” Dana laughed, offering her hand to Dustin. “Tell us when you’re ready to rejoin us. Unlike the ringmaster, we certainly can give a fair share of moolah for performing.”  
“I’ll take it into consideration.” Dustin shook her hand, and so did El.

At a refreshments stand, Steve came back with three cones of ice cream, one each for the kids.  
“You kids didn’t listen. You got in trouble and wound up in the Upside-Down again. Therefore, you guys only get one scoop. But on the brighter side, you were able to handle yourselves. Good work. You get cones instead of a cup.”  
“Gee, thanks.” Will said sarcastically.  
“An attitude like that won’t get you ice cream at all, you dipshit.” Steve gave Will a noogie on the head.  
“Hey!”  
“And that’s for horses.” Steve said, fanning himself with a paper he received from the ice cream stand.  
“Wait, Steve, can I see that paper?”  
“Huh? What? No. I don’t want you kids finding about my secret job.”  
“Secret job?” Dustin raised an eyebrow.  
“Shush. Finish your ice cream. You’ll see it at Starcourt.”  
“Starcourt?” Eleven looked to Will and Dustin.  
“The mall that’s under construction in town right now. I think they’re working on the finishing touches, making sure everything’s good to go on opening day.” Will added.  
“Shit. I’ve got Camp Know-Where. Steve? I dunno if I can come to your first shift.”  
“The ship’s always docked, Dustin. You can go on the flavor curiosity voyage the day you come back. By the way, your ice cream is melting.”


End file.
